First Evidence of Jupiter Ring

First evidence of a ring around the planet Jupiter is seen in this
photograph taken by Voyager 1 on March 4, 1979. The multiple exposure
of the extremely thin faint ring appears as a broad light band
crossing the center of the picture. The edge of the ring is 1,212,000
km from the spacecraft and 57,000 km from the visible cloud deck of
Jupiter. The background stars look like broken hair pins because of
spacecraft motion during the 11 minute 12 second exposure. The wavy
motion of the star trails is due to the ultra-slow natural oscillation
of the spacecraft (with a period of 78 seconds). The black dots are
geometric calibration points in the camera. The ring thickness is
estimated to be 30 km or less. The photograph was part of a sequence
planned to search for such rings in Jupiterís equatorial plane.
The ring has been invisible from Earth because of its thinness and its
transparency when viewed at any angle except straight on. JPL manages
and controls the Voyager Project for NASA’s Office of Space Science.